Former judge Michael Cook to be sentenced Wednesday

EAST ST. LOUIS, IL (KTVI) – A former St. Clair County judge at the center of a drug scandal is expected to be sentenced Wednesday in federal court.

The sentencing hearing for Mike Cook is set to take place at 1:15pm Wednesday inside the East St. Louis federal courthouse before Judge Joe Billy McDade.

Cook was originally set to be sentenced last month, but that was postponed while McDade considered whether Cook should receive a stiffer sentence than what his plea deal called for.

In November, Cook pleaded guilty to heroin and gun charges. Cook, 43, agreed at that time to serve 18 months in prison. But judge McDade asked for a more thorough pre-sentencing report saying the sentence may go beyond the normal guidelines because Cook was a judge, his actions may have impacted cases he presided over, and what he did eroded public confidence in the judicial system.

In March, Cook’s friend and fellow judge Joe Christ died of a cocaine overdose while with Cook at his hunting cabin in Pike County.

Cook was then arrested in May outside the Belleville home of Sean McGilvery. McGilvery has already pleaded guilty to heroin charges and said Cook picked up heroin from him almost every day.

Thursday, another figure in this whole scandal faces sentencing. Former St. Clair County Probation Officer James Fogarty has admitted to selling cocaine to both Cook and Christ.